Pouches, such as stand-up pouches, are well know in the art as being a convenient and a low cost means of containing and dispensing small portions of fruit juice or the like. Such juice pouches have gained acceptance among consumers even though the design has a number of inherent weaknesses. One drawback of these pouches is that the straw required to drink from the pouch is attached to the outside of the pouch and must be removed and inserted into the pouch through a wall of the pouch by the user. This is normally done by puncturing the pouch wall with the end of the straw. This procedure can be difficult because of the relatively great force required to penetrate the substrates typically used for beverage pouches. This force exerted on the outside of the pouch wall increases the internal pressure of the liquid inside the pouch causing it to spew out of the hole created when the straw finally punctures the substrate. Such procedure can result in product spillage on the body or clothing of the user.
In addition, the straw of the prior art pouches must be over-wrapped because it is exposed to contamination since it is attached to the outside of the pouch. Another disadvantage of the prior art is that the over-wrapped straw must be applied to the outside of the pouch at a subsequent step from the forming and filling of the pouch.
An even further weakness of the prior art is that the straw can become lost before being used since the straw can easily be dislodged from the outside of the pouch.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a pouch formed with a straw inside that can be easily accessed through a portion of the pouch.